title: Public say food regulatory policies to improve health in Western Australia are important: population survey results.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the level of support among Western Australian adults for food control policies to improve diet, reduce obesity and protect the environment.
  
  
  METHODS
  Attitudes towards government food control policies on food labelling, food advertising, and the supply of environmentally friendly food data were pooled from two Nutrition Monitoring Survey Series telephone surveys of 2,147 adults aged 18-64 years collected in 2009 and 2012. Descriptive and logistic regression analyses were conducted using survey module of STATA 12.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of adults believe it is important that government regulates food policy options under consideration: nutrition information on food labels (97% versus 2% who think it is not important); health rating on food labels (95% versus 3%); food advertising (83% versus 11%); and the supply of environmentally friendly food (86% versus 9%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Community perception is that government control or regulation of food labelling, food advertising and the supply of environmentally friendly food is important.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Curbing excess weight gain and related disease burden is a public health priority. Australian governments are considering food regulatory interventions to assist the public to improve their dietary intake. These findings should provide reassurance to government officials considering these regulatory measures.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, Curtin University, Western Australia; Department of Health, Western Australia School of Public Health, Curtin University, Western Australia Public Health Association of Australia, ACT School of Public Health, Curtin University, Western Australia.
authors.forename: Christina M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Pollard
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daly
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Colin W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Binns
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018673:Nutrition Policy; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D009765:Obesity / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011634:Public Health / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011639:Public Opinion; D014904:Western Australia; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: community attitudes; food policy; food regulation; nutrition labelling; obesity